Hello reader,

Boy, do I have things I want to tell you! It’s a new month and with it, it brings new changes and this little blog space will be undergoing some changes as well. Before I tell you what those changes will e (without divulging too much) let’s review the past month, should we?

I’m rather proud of myself for having posted consistently, twice weekly and at the same time always. Well, except for that one time when I wrote a post, went on a weekend away and remembered I didn’t schedule it. Oops! I also created my own graphics to accompany the posts as well, a far cry from the photographics I used to do. However, I do not know which you, reader, like. Do you like the vector graphics or do you like the photos behind a heading? See, this as a survey kind of thing because I do want to make this space something that people enjoy visiting.

Yes, you must have noticed that this post doesn’t have a graphic accompanying it but that’s one of the changes. This is not a regular blog post, just a sort of announcement and also, I’m going to change the visual look of the whole blog (wish me luck because this may involve some html tinkering and I’m not exactly a connoisseur), including deciding whether I should go with the graphics like you saw in the month of February or the ones in the month of January.

Now to tell you about what some other changes will be. I’m going to write less about my own personal life because my life isn’t really interesting and most of the posts about a Day in The Life do not get many readers (according to analytics), BUT I will be doing more and more book reviews since those are popular (yay!) It’s a win-win. It will give me an excuse to read more books (between running a business, creating artworks and writing there really isn’t much time to properly sit down and read a book) and I’ll be giving honest reviews about books I like and don’t like. *claps hand gleefully like a baby seal*

But wait, there’s more! I will also be introducing an exciting blog series that will remain a secret for now but I’m so excited about it and I have been thinking about it for weeks now! I hope you will love it as well because it is something wholly different.

So that’s all. To summarise, I’ll be writing less about my personal life, will be doing more book reviews (or generally talking about books) and will be introducing a blog series. As for the schedule, I was thinking book review on Wednesdays, blog series on Fridays and if have something interesting to say about my personal life that will go up on Mondays or Tuesdays?

Do not expect a post on Friday by the way; there won’t be any until I’m ready to launch the new changes. This was a heads up and a public service announcement. *waggles eyebrows*

If you read this blog regularly and have any suggestions on what you would love to see here, please let me know in the comments below.

‘Til next time,

-Bella

5 Ways You Can Make Someone's Day

Hello reader,

I really love being nice to people. You never know when someone may be going through a pretty rough time and when I make someone smile, it makes me smile as well. Sometimes though, it can be hard to figure out how to make someone smile but fret not, here are 5 very simple ways you can make someone’s day.

1. Compliment them. Sure, so clichéd, but compliment them in a different way and if possible, make sure you compliment something that is permanent for them. Steer away from complimenting their eyes, or smiles; chances are they’ve heard it all before. Try complimenting them about something that they won’t expect anyone to really pay attention to like their hands or something alike. When I was in grade 8, this lovely girl told me that she loved the way I walk and it was so unexpected that I’m still smiling about it all these years later. She really made an impact with a compliment so simple.

2.    Do little things for them. If it’s a stranger, you could open/hold the door for them (as long as they are not far away so they have to do an awkward jog to get to you, haha!) or help carry their bags or let them get in first in a lift. Possibilities are endless. Hopefully they’ll appreciate it and you’ll get –what’s that? Is that a smile? – yes, a smile out of them. If it’s someone you know, try making a cup of tea or coffee out of the blue for them or giving them a chocolate bar or even going as far as giving them a little gift.

3.    Smile widely at them. Don’t just smile a tiny smile that then disappears once they look away. It’s quite easy to spot a fake smile. First try noticing something you like about them -maybe their outfit?- and smiling . People respond back to real smiles (as far as I’ve noticed) and hopefully they’ll mirror your smile.

4.    Talk to them. Most often than not, people just need someone to talk to, even if it’s just a short conversation. Talk to someone you haven’t talked to in a while and tell them that you were thinking about them. Remind them of something awesome or funny they’ve done/said and they’ll appreciate that they are in someone’s thoughts and that they are not easily forgettable. Also, it is important that you don’t ask for anything when you do this or they’ll think you only talk to them when you want something.

5.    Share things with them. The internet is full of funny pictures and videos that are guaranteed to make someone smile. For example, you could try texting a friend a link to a gif with ‘hey, I think you will like this.’ Or you could offer to share food (yes, yes share!) or even something as small as a joke. I for one like sharing jokes I’ve seen on Reddit. Reddit is rife with them!

These are just a few simple things that I do and that have been done to me (and that you could do) that have made me and people smile. I’m all for making this world a better and brighter place and I believe it all starts with being of service to others; being kind to them, loving them and helping them when needed.

What little things do you do to make someone’s day? I would love to read all about them so feel free to comment and if you’re a blogger, leave a comment with your link so I could check out your blog.

Have a fantastic and happy weekend!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

When you compare yourself to others

Hello reader,

Today I’m not feeling particularly well and went through a terrible night/morning where I had some kind of skin reaction and my entire body itched, it was hard to fall asleep and now I’m feeling super drowsy. Anyway, other than this, something happened yesterday that I want to tell you about.

I made a mistake yesterday. I sat down in front of my PC to get to work on some designs when I reached a creative block. I decided to go online and have a look at some designs similar to what I want to do and that’s when it went downhill. The first thought came into my head, ‘mine suck!’ ‘Am I even good?’ And just like that, my self-esteem took a knocker. It only took less than a minute for that to happen.

Here’s where I made a mistake. I compared myself to those other designers whose work I deemed better than mine, and honestly, they were. However, I was only supposed to get inspiration from them and not bring myself down in the process. Suddenly the work I felt really proud of became something measly. What really put me down in the dumpers was that I worked really hard on those designs and I was supposed to unveil them to the public soon. ‘Who would buy these when there’s so many better out there?’ I asked myself.

I know that I’m a long way off from being the designer I want to be but isn’t this what it’s all about? The journey? For some reason we just want to have arrived at that place. We compare ourselves to others who have begun earlier and a much further because of that plus hard work. There’s a saying I read somewhere that says, “Do not compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 20.” Easy to say though, isn’t it? Sometimes we just cannot help it.

When I started feeling as if my designs were crap, I switched off my PC and took a step back. I reassured myself that okay, maybe compared to the other designers’ who have more design experience than I do, my designs are not that great but when compared to the previous designs I did, they look pretty awesome! I put myself back on track and I know now that this is my own journey that I’m walking and I cannot wander onto others’ lanes or compare my distance to theirs. Someday I will get there and I’ll bet that those very same designers also wish they were somewhere as well because let’s face it; there will always be someone much better than you are. The trick, I learned, is to be better than the person you were yesterday and that’s what I will remind myself of whenever those niggling thoughts start to creep in.

Dear reader, I will love to hear your thoughts on this subject. How do you deal with comparing yourself to others and the not-so-good feelings that come with it? Feel free to comment. J

Now, let me drink a lot of fluids and get some rest until I feel 100% better. ‘Til next time,

-Bella 

When life gets in the way of your dreams

Hello reader,

Isn’t life a funny thing? It’s made of complexities that no one can really make sense of, but are we even supposed to? It’s hard enough trying to live it. You get these dreams in your heart and you try and go after them because of the life you want to live. Sometimes however, it’s hard to reach those dreams and you have to forget them for the moment and live the life you don’t really want just to get by. Moments turn into months, which turn into years and before you know it, you haven’t chased after your dreams and you don’t really have all the time in the world now.

It’s hard, I get it. Right now I’m trying to live my dream of being a successful artist and running a successful business but it’s just so dang hard. My savings have all but dried up and I feel even more pressure to just forget my dream for the time being and to just make a living. I know I’m not the only one as well. I am however reluctant to give up because I know exactly what I want. I put all my savings and a lot of time and tears into this dream and sooner or later something has gotta give, right?

I’m holding onto that hope because I truly and wholeheartedly believe in myself and if I don’t believe in myself, who would? And if I don’t give myself a chance, really, who would? So many unfortunate people have given up on their dreams to just get by but I realise that most of them had no choice because they had families to feed and well, life just happened. I don’t want that to happen to me. I don’t want life to happen to me, I want to happen to life and I will put in more than 100% to even touch my dream.  Perhaps this is all just a test to see how much we would fight for our dreams. I hope that you will all take up arms and fight with everything you have to reach your dreams because if you can dream it, you can live it. I don't believe God puts dreams and visions into our hearts just to watch us not live them.

Have you ever encountered a time when some uncontrollable situations threatened to derail your dream/s? Feel free to comment and let me know.

‘Til next time and have a great, fantastic weekend!

-Bella

How much do you value privacy?

Hello reader,

I was on a random Reddit thread yesterday when someone said he used to look at geotagged images and try and find the people in the photos, calling them by their names because it is so easy to find out things about them just from a tagged image. It was an interesting discussion that makes me wonder, how much do we value privacy?

It is so easy to forget that the internet is not a really safe place that we share anything and everything freely. I was once like that. I shared every photo I liked on Facebook and Twitter until one day I received a reawakening. I had Googled myself and the images that came up were personal pictures and lots of photos of my nephews. I love my nephews very much and I think they are the cutest so I felt the unnecessary need to share their photos with my Facebook friends and my Twitter followers, not understanding that I’m actually sharing them with the entire world. I wasn’t comfortable with their pictures out there like that because they are so young. I therefore embarked on a ‘clean up’ mission, deleting Twitpics and removing photos off my Facebook. Not only that but I readjusted my privacy settings.

I had always liked privacy but now I value it greatly. I am now careful of what I post asking myself questions like, “is there anything that looks unfavourably upon me and my loved ones?” “Did this person/s approve of me posting this photo?” “Will this hurt someone?”  “I’m I revealing unnecessary personal information about myself or others?” and so on. Nowadays I only talk about my nephews and it’s always something positive. I don’t post pictures of them anymore and not many people know their names, or where they go to school. That’s how I like to keep it. I admit though, sometimes I’m tempted to post a photo. My cousin sent my mum a photo of his newborn daughter and she was so, so adorable that I wanted to Tweet it. I didn’t though because she’s still so young and I didn’t think my cousin would approve. I didn’t even post photos of my nephew’s athletic meet because other than respecting my own privacy, I respect and value theirs as well. I am so careful of what I post online that even here on this little blog of mine, I make sure that I don’t reveal too much about myself or my loved ones. I think its importance to maintain a balance.

I do feel sorry for celebrities when thinking of how privacy is important to me. Even though renouncing most of your privacy comes with the status, I cannot imagine how unsettling it must be to have millions of people know details about your personal life from who you are dating, which restaurant you visited to your pets names. In high school a lot of people knew my name and who I was. I wasn’t popular *scoffs*; it just came with being the only one wearing hearing aids. I remember one day when I was in the school bathroom –I must have been in Grade 11 or Grade 12- and this lovely girl in Grade 8 said, “Isabella?” I looked at her and she smiled and said, “I know who you are.” That was so unsettling because I did not know her name. Not fair, haha! Felt like something out of a thriller.

I think we all need to carefully scrutinize what we put online and if it involves other people, ask them for permission, especially when tagging! I am not a fan of tagging people in photos on Facebook and if I do, it’s because they’ve asked me, or gave their okay for me to post photos of them and tag them. Did you know that even if you’re not friends with a specific somebody on Facebook, they are able to find information about you just by having a mutual friend tag you in something? Let that sink in a moment.

Feel free to comment and let me know how much you value your own personal privacy, if you have ever experienced an invasion of privacy or what steps you take to ensure your privacy online. I’d love to hear your stories!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

Our old typewriter

Hello reader,

Here's a little story about my family's old typewriter...

PHOTO BY: CLAIRE DE BOER

Many years ago when I was a child, we had an old typewriter. I don’t really recall where the typewriter came from but I’d be prepared to bet that it came with the big, faded green metal trunk that held a lot of old books from a bookstore. Interestingly enough, that trunk contained one book that was to change the course of my life, but more on that later, if ever.

So…the typewriter…it was really interesting to my siblings and I and we’d spend many days tinkering with it. The typewriter new, it wasn’t in great condition either but it worked fairly well. Perhaps its previous owner had loved it greatly.

That camo green old typewriter had sticky keys and the key bars would get stuck up on the platen when you typed and you had to bring them down to continue typing, it needed oiling, I guess. It had a roll of ribbon that usually came undone and we had to reroll it countless times, usually ending up with inky fingers and hands which subsequently transferred inky fingerprints to the paper. The ink on the ribbon was fading too, we actually had to undo the roll to find ink rich parts to use.

I loved that typewriter. I loved how it didn’t really have a ‘backspace’ and you had to retype over a letter when you’ve madea mistake. Well, at least that is what I did. I particularly loved the sound of hitting the keys and the following sound of the bars hitting the platen, and how my tiny fingers usually slipped and fell into the spaces between the keys when I tried to type. We didn’t have a noiseless typerwriter, ours was noisy and that was delighting to my young ears which were slowly losing their hearing. I don’t  remember what model it was, I don’t even remember what I wrote on it and I don’t even remember whether I kept whatever I wrote and then lost the papers.

What I remember is that the typewriter broke, was repaired and then again broke. This time beyond repair I think, since we do not have it anymore. We should have taken better care of it but you know how kids are; they do not know the value of things and would just play with something they like over and over until it broke due to overuse. Kids are really not careful. Perhaps this is what makes them awesome. Maybe we all need to learn from kids and love things without treading lightly or being too careful.

Today I’m typing this post on my PC. The keys are noisy but it is clearly a different sound and there is no sound of the bars hitting a platen. I do not have to roll paper, I do not have to change ribbons and I definitely do not have inky fingers from typing but the premise is the same. Things have changed a lot but in a way, are the same. I’m feeling a profound nostalgia and I really would not mind having a typewriter. In fact, it is a need I need to satisfy.

My aunt still has her typewriter. It’s similar to the one we had and it is in her sewing room, broken, although I believe that it could easily get restored. Maybe I should ask her for it but my aunt is a word lover. I do not know of any word lover who would not like, or who would even part with a typewriter today. If you are a fellow word lover and have a working typewriter, I hope you cherish it and that you love it with an ardor of a young child.

‘Til next time

-Bella

Goals for 2015

Hello reader,

I am really amped and excited for 2015!  It’s a chance to make all my dreams and ideas in my Big Black Book become a reality! Now, now, I hardly ever create a list of New Year’s Resolutions because I never remember them (or selectively forget them). If I have a New Year’s resolution, it’s relatively quite simple and general. In fact, my New Year’s resolution for the previous year was to smile every day because I didn’t smile a lot in 2013. Did I achieve it? You bet! It helped because it made me look for an excuse to smile which meant I focused on positive and things that made me happy. This year my New Year’s resolution is to try my best, always. And with the goals I want to achieve this year, I’ll really need to try my best!

This is the very first time I’m creating a list of goals I want to achieve. I believe that written goals are important as they provide an incentive for me to actively try and achieve them. Also, these goals will lead me to be better than I was last year and one should always strive to be better! Here are my goals for 2015 in no particular order.

·         Get more clients for my design company, Allebasi Design and expand it. I’d love to create a few jobs as well.

·         Double my blog readership and get sponsors, also host a lot of giveaways! I’m by all means an amateur when it comes to blogging but I’m learning everyday! I also need to spend more time marketing and creating content which brings me to the next goal…

·         Create a schedule and stick to it! Oh schedules, I’m bad at those. I usually just create a mental To-Do list and try my best to do everything on the list but I need better time management, which means I’ll need to get those daily planners/calendars. Woe for my desk space, haha!

·         Become healthier and fitter. I would love to become fitter and stronger. I dislike working out because it’s banal (seriously, who invented squats, sit ups and pull ups, etc!?) unless it’s a fun work out like dancing, yoga or swimming. But hey, I’ve been running regularly recently and I don’t hate it. I think it’s because I’m back home and there is fresh air for miiiiles! I’ll however like to invest in some gym equipment since I live rather far from the nearest gym. I’d love to take up kickboxing. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of fun with that! In previous years (before I left for college) I’d skate or rollerblade everyday and that was always a fun work out for my legs and core! I’d also love to eat healthier food. My family and I hardly  never eat out and most of our vegetables come from our garden (thanks parents, for your love of gardening and ‘eating natural foods’!) I’m actually going to join them in gardening soon. I’ll be in charge of the herb garden and I’m quite excited for that, yay! More about eating healthily, I need to be more aware of my diet. Last year there were two weeks were I was on a Paleo diet but as the days went by I selectively forgot that I’m supposed to be on one! *sigh* I tend to not be picky about the food I eat (because it’s food!) but I need to because sometimes I eat a lot of sugar and my body doesn’t tolerate sugar well which is the reason why I cut out sugar out of my tea. I need to cut out sugar in other foods I eat but I can still eat chocolate. I refuse to give up on chocolate. They can pry it from my dead, cold hands.

·         Create an app! Something that is in my Big Black Book and something I’ve wanted to do for two years now and it is actually something that I believe people will LOVE! I just need a developer now because I suck at coding. I’m actually learning a more coding through Codecademy to add to my very basic coding knowledge I learnt in college. However, I’d love this app to be awesome and for it to be awesome I need a developer.

·         Write a book. *waggles eyebrows* This has been on the cards for several years now and I’ve actually been researching and developing a novel for a year and a half now. All I need to do now is to write it and finish it! I have written a handful of short stories before (I could even post one here if you guys would like that) and even have an unfinished story I wrote for my friends’ pleasure. I should finish it, but I’m my own worst critic so…

·         Create another business venture. This has been something I’ve planned since early last year. However, I do not want to be like those entrepreneurs who create and create but are not able to maintain their businesses because of time constraints and therefore run them to the ground. No worries though, I know exactly how I’m going to manage them. It’s all about research, planning and dedication. With that said, I need a team to work with me! Soon!

·         Improve my cooking. I love trying new recipes and this year I’d love to create more of those dishes with fancy names…and some dishes with hard to pronounc e names haha!

·         Become more social. No doubt this will be challenging as I’m a bit anti-social by nature and I have a business to run but I need to go out more often and meet new people. It might also be beneficial for me as it’ll allow me to network. I need to meet up with more of my friends as well and have girls nights out or pamper days.

·         Become a better driver. I got my driver’s license last year in March but I need more driving practice. I’m decent with automatic transmission but terrible with manual transmission. If I want a part in the Fast 8 I reckon I gotta brush up on my driving skills! I need to get over my anxiety of driving on public roads (it’s bad) and be a great driver like my dad is and older brother was. Can’t let my 12yr old nephew be a better driver than me. True story: he once drove me to my friend’s place and he can hardly see over the dashboard!
·         Travel. I really, really, really x100 want to travel. I feel as if my soul will never be complete until I have traveled to quite a lot of places. I have never been on a plane before and I'd like that to change this year. A friend and I have a list of places we'd love to visit and we're going to try and save enough money so we could go. First step: get a passport!

·         Create more art. By this I mean more personal art. Not something that other people have told me to create. It’s easy to fall into a rut of only doing things you’ve been told to do and none for your own creative expression and if this happens to me, it’ll be a bad thing to happen to me creatively. However, to prevent that I dedicate two months to embark on a personal project. For December and this month I’m working on a Quote Series. I had a few friends of mine give me original life quotes they live by and I’m illustrating A2 posters based on them. I’m having a lot of fun working on them and I can’t wait to release them. I’ll most likely sell them worldwide too! I want to do more ‘series’ projects and this year I want to start filmmaking which would be whole new creative journey for me but those scripts I have written need to come to life! I may create a YouTube account for the films as well! Yay!

Whoa, okay. Maybe I should make ‘write shorter posts’ as a goal for this year because I’m rather verbose with my blog posts. Forgive me, I’ll try to work on that!

Do you have any goals for this year that you want to achieve? Please let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

5 Lessons 2014 Taught Me

Hello reader,

Ok. Ok. Let’s address the huge elephant in the room shall we? I know it’ 6 days into 2015 but I’ve published a post that should’ve been up last year.

Let me explain, I was on holiday with my family and the first week of this year so I had no time to properly sit and write a post. Also, I was away from my computer and internet, except on my wee old phone which will be 4 years old next month!  Such a trooper! Anyway, moving on! In this post I list 5 lessons I've learnt in 2014! Let’s be honest, it’s not really late, is it?

1.    Time does heal wounds. Or at least make you forget them. When I entered 2014I was badly wounded; emotionally and mentally. 2013 was a tough year but in 2014 I picked up the pieces and carried on. I accepted all that happened in 2013 and made my peace with it. Today those feelings of despair are just a memory. God’s grace is really sufficient!

2.    Life is not fair. I think we’re all aware of this. I bet if Life were a person and you asked it whether it could please be a little fair it’d say, “fair? What is that? Anyone, would you like some zesty lemons?” Haha, but really how many times did you ever think to yourself or yell out in frustration, “it’s not fair!”? I don’t think that life had, is or will ever be fair. Maybe it’s a good thing. We find our humanity in things we deem not fair, like injustices which subsequently pioneers revolutionary movements. Unfairness also gives us the motivation to push harder than ever and to focus on things in front of us.

3.    Friends come and go. In the beginning of 2014 I thought I’d be friends with some people forever. I’d even talk about weddings and such like there would be there but sadly it was not to be. Today we’re not really friends since we’ve all gone our different ways. I’m thankful and glad that they were my friends though. Sometimes people are your friends to teach you a life lesson and once that’s been learnt, they go. I’m looking forward to making more friends this year and I hope they’ll impart valuable positive lessons for me and me for them.

4.    Getting what you really want may mean making sacrifices and taking risks. Like deciding to go my own way and become a full time business owner. I knew what I wanted and I knew it wouldn’t be easy and will require a lot of dedication. I saved up the money I earned, foregoing buying luxuries like a new phone (okay, not really a luxury because I badly need one), eating out or purchasing things on a whim. It was a good decision though, I was able to invest in my company and buy a few necessities needed for it. This also taught me money management which has really come in handy! Being an entrepreneur also has quite a big risk on my personal life. Income is not guaranteed which means it’ll be difficult to obtain medical aid cover which I especially need for checkups with my audiologist. I’ll also need to consult with a handful of doctors this year for some health concerns (not serious!) as well. I tend to get upper respiratory infections about twice a year and we all know how medication is costly! I’m going to pray and cross fingers that my mum’s medical aid covers me for a little while longer. Besides this, there is also a probability that Allebasi Design will not work out and I could probably lose everything. I really do not have an exit strategy but I’m focusing on the probability that everything will and shall work out and it’ll be a profitable and successful company. Yay to positive thinking!

5.    You are the architect of your own life. This is really true! You have the power to get the life you really want. Granted, you may face some obstacles and life may throw unexpected things at you. But it is YOU who has to decide how you will overcome that obstacle. It is YOU who have to get up and figure out how to get back on track when the great storms of life sweep you off-track…or you could JUST lie there and let the torrents sweep you even further off-track. Also, God does answer prayers but most times He just gives you the opportunity to get what you asked for. Be sure to open your eyes, the opportunities to live the life you want are many! But remember number 4 above.

2014 was a good year for me, one filled with lots of lessons and memories! What lessons did the previous year teach you? Let me know in the comments, I’d really love to hear from you!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

The Importance of Family

Dear reader,

SOURCE

 I really, really love my family. I feel that of all the blessings that God has given me, the most amazing one is my family. When I was living away from my family I’d miss them and count down the days until I’d get to see them. Granted, sometimes family can get on your nerves (dysfunctional family, anyone!?) and you may fight a lot and not speak to them for a while. Despite that, they are my family and I will always love them.

I’m glad to have an extended family that I can see whenever I want. When I get fed up with my immediate family, I can go and visit my cousins for a while. Like this past week. I do not have a lot of friends and so I count my cousins as my best friends. They have all been here for each other through our lowest and highest points. Sure, I get mad at them sometimes, and they get mad at me but we always forgive each other and carry on like nothing has happened. They make me feel good about myself and I sure hope I make them feel good about themselves as well. When I’m with my cousins, laughter is always the norm. In fact, I don’t think I have gone a day with my cousins without laughing. Not even during all those funerals last year; we always found something to joke and laugh about. We tease each other as well, mercilessly, but it is always in good humour. Like that time one of my cousins said to me, “your fingers are so long your husband is going to take a long time putting a ring on your finger.” and “your hairline starts on your face and not on your head.” (I have a widow’s peak). It’s all good though; my comebacks were top class and sometimes result in my cousins trying to beat me up while laughing.

We all had a tough year last year and when the festive season rolled around, we were apprehensive about where and how we would spend our Christmas because the people who we normally spent it with and who made if good were gone. When Christmas arrived, my siblings and I congregated with my cousins at their house and it was an excellent Christmas. We had a lot of fun and there were no adults around! Haha!

This past week I was feeling rather stressed and feeling constantly tired (setting up a business does take it toll on your health). My cousins asked me to come over and I agreed, knowing it will do me good and what good it did! It’s always an adventure being at my cousins’. Other than all the silly things we did, one of them graduated that weekend, the same day the pageant I participated in was televised! Myself and another cousin stayed behind so we could watch it and I was hiding behind her every time I came up haha. I thought I looked really terrible but my cousin got mad at me for thinking that and said I was actually okay. See what I mean when I say they make me feel good about myself? As soon as the broadcast was over we hurried over to the graduation and my cousin looked so beautiful! I did her make-up and also did my other cousin’s hair and make-up -about which she said I could open a beauty salon since I’m good with make-up, hair and nails- and this was a big deal since I don’t wear make-up and know close to nothing about it. Hello beauty bloggers, I’m coming for you, haha!

My favourite thing about family is that they are always there for you even when you mess up really badly. They have seen you at your worst and still love you. You can talk about the most disgusting things to them and they’ll still love you. To my family, immediate and extended, I appreciate you guys and love all of you. Thanks for loving every inch of me.

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The festive season is always a time for family for me and I’ll take any excuse to spend time with them because I know in the next year I’ll be very busy and they will too. We are all growing older and wiser. Besides, any excuse for laughter and embarrassing anecdotes, right?

I’m wishing you, lovely reader, a beautiful and merry Christmas whether you are going to spend it with family or not. If you are and however dysfunctional your family is, make sure to give them a hug and let them know you love them. Let’s also spare a thought for anyone out there without a family since this is the season they’ll really need a family. If you are able, open your heart and homes to them.

Let me know in the comments what your plans for the festive season entail and what your favourite thing about family is.

‘Til next time,

-Bella

I've got internet!

Hello reader,

I’m back! It’s been a long absence and not an easy one. I moved back home about 13 days ago and the first week back I took charge of cleaning the house from top to bottom and I nearly threw my back out. Not to mention I was bitten by a spider. That was my entire fault though; I was in the storehouse in flip flops, rattling around looking for things. I would have been shocked if I didn't sustain a spider bite but thank goodness it wasn't a venomous one!

My lack of blogging isn’t the result of being busy. Sure, there’ve been a lot of changes in my life but the one thing preventing me from blogging was the lack of internet. As I’ve mentioned before, I use a 4 year old Blackberry which is like 86 years old in phone years and sadly it’s nearing its end and isn’t working as smoothly as it ever was. I have to put it in the freezer in order to use it. Perhaps if I move to the Arctic it’ll run like new. Anyway, I couldn’t really blog from my phone and I was going through various stages of blogging withdrawal. A week ago I finally got wifi internet which is truly an amazing thing because the last time we had internet in our household was before the days of Tumblr and Twitter. We had the old phone line internet and the bill was enormous so my mum decided that we didn’t really need internet. That would have been unheard of today.

During the past week I was at my aunt’s place, helping her out with her laptop. I’m a computer genius it seems, even if I struggled to connect her printer but even geniuses make mistakes. *shrug* Today I’m back home and I’m keen to go back into the grind of blogging, working on my art and writing. I’m currently remodeling and redecorating my room so I don’t yet have a desk. I’m typing this sitting on the floor of my room with the computer perched on a chair (my brother’s improvisation- as I’ve found when I returned from my aunt’s). It’s not so bad and I’m excited to see how my room turns out. I have a twin bed that I’ve transformed into a sofa and a nice, nifty book shelf. Both these things are my favourite since I like to read. I can lie down or sit up *asdfghjkl!  I’m still to paint my room. I wanted black, mum said I was crazy (understandable). I decided to compromise on grey (I’ve got too many grey things anyway), mum said white (no one should touch my walls then) so white it is. Currently the whole room- including the ceiling- is painted lavender, courtesy of my darling older brother, bless his heart. I am still to remove posters and pictures from teenage years off my bedroom door. Let’s just say Taylor Lautner rules my door. But at least I have a picture of Beyoncé, right?

Erhmahgherd guys I have internet!! Granted, I’ll probably blow the majority of my data browsing Tumblr (I dare not go on YouTube) but dang it! I’ve got internet!  It’s expensive but I’ve got internet! HOW RAD? This means that I’ll be able to do a lot of the things that I want to and more! Access to the internet should be a basic human right if you ask me.

If you’re cool too and have a Tumblr, you can follow me here:

Personal Tumblr: www.thebella-m.tumblr.com

Art Tumblr:  www.allebasiart.tumblr.com

*You know how when some people are excited about something they type ‘asdfghjkl’? I’ve always thought that they just punched random letters on their keyboard until I recently. They are just all of the letters from the second row on the keyboard. I felt like such a doof! *facepalm* You learn something new every day. Asdfghjkl!

What are looking forward to these festive holidays? Let me know! I’d love to read your comments and get into the festive spirit by eating copious amounts of custard!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

It's time for a new chapter

Hello reader,

Last week was tumultuous for me. It started with me getting excited for Monday, as always (This is completely normal for me). Then throughout the day I started feeling like I was suffocating and this continued on into the next day…and the next. For the first time since I started working, I didn’t want to get up in the morning and I was tired during the day, opting to sleep early at night. I'd wake up, after snoozing my alarm for as long as I could, go to work, come back and watch copious amounts of Breaking Bad (which is more a comedy than a drama because there was so much laughter and chuckles from my side) before bed. I forced myself to pause and acknowledge the problem at hand and well, would you have it. It wasn’t difficult to ascertain what was going on.

Change. It’s exciting and often scary and right now I’m experiencing a lot of it. This week marks my last week working here since my internship is ending which means I’ll officially be unemployed and I’m going to have to move back home. Because of this, I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure to find a new job. Jobs are scarce, what are you going to do? Just sit at home? The truth is, I know exactly what I want to do but it’s hard to find support when no one really understands what you want to do and why. Despite all this, I feel so thankful of the opportunity I received to work here. I have worked alongside some the country’s most revered journalists and I have learnt so much…I have also learnt that I do not want to do this for the rest of my life.

I am an artist. I express myself using creative visual means. It’s just who I am, it’s who I’ve been since birth, to be quite honest. I want to create the art that I want to do, I want to tell stories. There’ve been times when I wouldn’t draw, or do an illustration for a long period of time. I haven’t really used my camera for more than 6 months and that is really terrible. You stop doing something you really love for quite some time and you feel like you're merely existing.

And so because of all this, I decided to pursue my dreams, do I what I want to and how I want to. Perhaps I’m asking for too much, especially in this economy but all I know is that I’d rather wake up in the morning to do what I love and give it a hundred percent than be unhappy doing something I really do not want to do out of necessity. So for now an office job is out of the picture. I’m choosing instead to follow my dreams and to work as hard as I am able to, to make every one of them a reality.

This is really scary for me because it means I have no security whatsoever but I am determined to go through with it. After all, I didn’t scrawl all these ideas in my notebook to look back at them 5 years, 10 years from now and say to myself, “I wish I had the guts to at least try and implement these ideas.”

This past weekend I assessed my options and I saw that it’s not necessary for me to go straight into a stable job because I’m young. I do not have a family to provide for and this is the liberty I need for me to go ahead and do my own thing, regardless of how scary it gets.

I am really excited to create again and I really don’t mind moving back home, this just means I’ll have people to test my culinary skills on because goodness gracious, I’m itching to cook and bake again and to just have the whole entire kitchen to myself. I’m excited to pick up my pencils and paint brushes and get to work. I’m excited to pick up my camera and take some excellent shots. I’m excited to just throw myself headfirst into creating and to feel alive. I’m excited to be my own boss and to see my business ventures take off. I also am excited to write even more, and to try new things such as filmmaking. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

I am now going to welcome each and any kind of change that reveals itself in my life because I know it’s on to bigger and better things. After all, your life is a book and there are different chapters; chapters end and a new one begins.

Let me know if you’ve ever been scared of change and how you dealt with it!

‘Til next time,

-Bella

I've been thinking about the future...

Hello reader,

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my future. The past year was incredibly difficult for me; I had to deal with a lot of changes in my life and I also had to deal with depression. To be quite honest, the past year shook me up to the point where I forced myself to have no expectations. I entered 2014 with a promise to myself to only take each day as it comes, to not make plans and to just 'float on a cloud' as I called it. But now I'm ready to pick up the pen which is my life and to write my own stories in the book of my life.

You see, I have so many goals and dreams I want to achieve and so many things that I want to do. I want my life to have meaning; I really want to make a positive difference in people's lives. I want to do my utmost best to make this world a better place for everyone who lives in it. I do not want my nephews to grow up in a world full of hate, violence, injustice and inequality. I want to bring my own children -should I be blessed with a couple- in a world that I have done my part to improve, a world full with hope and love all around. Am I being unrealistic? Perhaps, but this is something I believe in and something I believe I can help make happen. Even you can. I have always been passionate about making a difference in the world I live in. Last year I started a youth charity initiative with other young people around South Africa with the objective of being youth helping other youth -to have young people instrumental in making a positive difference. For a while things looked great, but unfortunately running  charity organisation is really challenging ad we didn't have enough support and the team and I parted ways. Even though that didn't work out, it made me even more determined to work with charities and there are a lot of good charities with the same vision I had. I am so, so excited to work with a few of them.

Today I'm proud to announce that I've been chosen as a Miss Deaf South Africa finalist yet again. I'm happy and excited to be involved with it as I'd love to bring awareness to the talents, skills and world-changing abilities of deaf and hearing impaired people. The pageant is not as supported in South Africa as the well-known Miss South Africa pageant and I'd love to see that change. There are so many beautiful deaf and hearing impaired people who can really make a difference if given the opportunity to do so. Thankfully the organisors of the pageant (who are also deaf) recognised that and since 2004 they've been working tirelessly to bring this pageant to the deaf and hearing impaired community. The past winners have made great strides fighting for deaf rights and showing that deaf and hearing impaired people are as much able as hearing people. They are so inspiring and this pageant however small it is, has done a great job in giving them a platform to be heard and seen. I'm excited to see my fellow contestants and to also work with them. The pageant will be held on the 11th October and you can find out more about it HERE. *fingers crossed*

There is so much more I want to do. I'd love to bungee-jump over crocodile infested waters! I'd love to go on a very scary roller-coaster ride! I'd love to go skiing at some skiing resort I've only ever seen in movies! I'd like to spend the night in the open air, star-gazing. Ok, ok. Let me not get carried away. *clears throat* Ahem... I will not bore you with in-depth details but I'd love to travel and see the world. I'd really love to visit bgi cities like London, New York and Amsterdam. I've never been on a plane before and I'd love to visit Cape Town. There's people I'd love to see in Cape Town and I can't believe I've never been there yet! Everyone always tells me how amazing it is and I'd love to experience it for myself. I'd also love to publish a few books. I love writing and my biggest dream is to publish a novel that people would love. So far as practice I've written a novella that's half-way complete for my friends to read and dang! writing a book is extremely difficult! Do you want me to post the novella here as soon as I'm finished with it? Do you? Hahahahahaha! Whew! Okay, I'll think about it... I want to shoot short films as well! I actually wrote a short script a couple of months ago and it was really awesome and exhilarating to do so I think I will continue with that. The script is somewhere on the internet and only one person other than me knows where haha.

I have also written and illustrated a children's book with a the main character inspired by my baby nephew but unfortunately my nephews and their parents never got the chance to see it. It -along with my other prized possessions- was stolen from my mother's car. I had a digital and physical copy which were both stolen. Boo hoo darn you thief! I hope you develop painful boils on your bum so you can't sit down. Not really but I hope whoever stole it lives with guilt and regret. I do wish my brother got to read it before he passed away because he really wanted to. My mother luckily got to read it and it made her smile. I'd love to write a few children's stories as well. It'll be great for me to make up to my nephew for never getting to read the first one haha!

My internship period is ending. October will be my last month and as sad as this makes me (I work with really amazing people and let me brag a bit... I get to literally rub shoulders with the country's renowned journalists haha!) I'm really excited to begin another phase of my life. I have a thick notebook filled with ideas and I want to implement all of them. I'll have more time to work on and to prepare for the launch of my online company early next year. I'll reveal details closer to the time! This also makes me uncontrollably excited because I can do anything. I really can! So can you. I'm taking this pen and I'm going to write an excellent story of my life until the pen runs dry. The future is scary and uncertain but I'm willing to put in the work with God's help to make it a future I want. A future I'll be happy to live my short life in. Before I've been cruising but now I'm ready to pick up speed and take control. Will I crash? Maybe... but I'm betting everything I have that I will fly.

This blog is will also be going through some changes. In October I'll be moving to Wordpress because  want it to be a long-term thing and I'd love to host it as a site on my own domain and Wordpress offers the most support for that. Also, blogging through Wordpress will make it more convenient me blog on the go with my phone. So why didn't I start the blog on Wordpress in the first place? I don't know, I'm a doof sometimes I wanted to give Blogger a trial run. So I hope you won't leave me. *hangs on tightly to your leg and refuses to let go*

Speaking of more future things, I will be guest blogging on the lovely and beautiful Alisha's blog over here at The Alisha Nicole later this month. I'm so excited (I'm aware that I'm saying this a lot but I really am excited!). Her blog is great, she blogs about her life and helps people begin their businesses by offering coaching and mentorship packages. Do check out her blog and fall in love with it.

Thank you, reader for reading my blog and I hope to have you in my future. Remember, you hold the pen that writes your future. Put it to good use. :)

'Til next time
-Bella

Deaf Awareness month part 2

Hello reader,

Welcome to the second and last part of my Deaf Awareness Month posts. In the first one, I wrote about deaf people here and now in this one, I’ll be telling you about sign language yay!

About sign language

Sign language is considered as much of a language as English. By this I mean sign language differs country to country, just like spoken languages. Here we have South African Sign Language or SASL, in America they have ASL and in Britain there is BSL and so on. All of these differ greatly, some signs may mean something else altogether in another country. Also, much like spoken language, sign language has ‘slang’ which differs from region to region.

Below are the some of the different kinds of sign language:

Sign Supported English (SSE). This is the preferred method of hearing people to communicate with the deaf. SSE uses the same sign as British Sign Language (BSL), but unlike Signed English (SE), you do not have to sign every word. SSE also doesn’t have its own grammar system like BSL, enabling hearing people to use the sign system without having to learn a whole new grammatical structure. SSE can be picked up fairly quickly which expedites communication.

International Sign (IS). IS is an international auxiliary language used at international meetings, such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Congress and events such as the Deaflympics.

Padget Gorman Signed Speech. This signing system is used with speech to help those with langauge difficulties. There are 37 basic signs which when combined can make over 4,000 more complex ones.

Pidgin Signed English (PSE). Another characteristic of language -much like pidgin vocal language, sign language has a very crude signing system, in which elements of BSL and spoken English are combined to allow communication between hearing people and deaf people who only know the strict confines of sign language. This system is not recommended though haha.

Finger Spelling. This signing system is generally used alongside sign language. It is used to spell out names, places, and anything else where there is not usually a sign for. Many times, new words take longer to be adapted into a singular sign; therefore they must be spelled out. Hearing people probably have used this a few times in their lives.

Why you should learn sign language

Who wouldn’t like to learn a new language, especially one as beautiful as sign language? You can also place this as an extra language on a CV or résumé which is an added bonus! Learning sign language will also help in bridging the gap between the hearing and deaf communities which is beneficial for both. Also, learning sign language is fun! Did I mention that already? No, well, I’m saying it now; sign language is fun. You also get to amaze people with sign language skills and because not many people are fluent in sign language, you get to communicate in broad daylight with your friend about secret things haha! It’s a great experience, so if you’d like to try something new, go for it!

Where can you learn sign language?

The best and fastest way would be to befriend deaf people and learn from them. If you aren’t able to do that, there are many institutions which offer sign language lessons; some free of charge and some at a cost. Do a quick Google search for any in your area but be careful you don’t go to dodgy places. Always bring a friend as well; this makes it double the fun. If you’d like to privately learn within the comfort of your own home, YouTube has a lot of videos of people teaching different kinds of sign language and you can easily find a sign language tutorial book in your local library or online.

I myself, am constantly trying to improve my sign language skills. Two weeks ago I watched a video about the basics of American Sign Language and it was thrilling. You can also learn by watching TV shows or movies where sign language is heavily used. I suggest Switched at Birth for a TV series (it’s really awesome and also brings the issues deaf people face every day in a mostly hearing world to the surface), and this Oscar nominated drama film, Children of a Lesser God (the talented deaf actress, Marlee Matlin won an Oscar for best actress for her role in this film at the very young age of 21!) and I heavily recommend it.

*rubs hands together satisfactorily* So… that’s about it. Again, if you have a question to ask, don’t be afraid to leave a comment. I’m always happy to help!